Johnny Depp's multimillion-dollar trial against Amber Heard gets underway. Video / AP
• WARNING: Distressing content
Johnny Depp has vehemently denied claims he sexually assaulted his ex-wife Amber Heard with a liquor bottle.
The former couple are in court in Fairfax, Virginia, this week in a multi-million dollar trial after Depp sued Heard for (US) $50 million for defamation after she wrotea piece for the Washington Post newspaper, in which she described herself as a victim of domestic violence, but the 35-year-old actress didn't name the Dark Shadows star so she has countersued for $100 million.
Johnny Depp is seeking millions in damages over an op-ed Amber Heard wrote for the Washington Post. Photo / Getty Images
Heard's lawyer Elaine Bredehoft has alleged in court that Depp "penetrated" the Aquaman actress with "a liquor bottle" during a "hostage situation" over three days in Australia in 2015.
She told the jury: "He has her jammed up against the bar. He has hurled bottles and bottles at her. He has dragged her across the floor on the broken bottles.
"He has punched her. He has kicked her. He has told her he's going to f****** kill her, and he f****** hates her. He's pounding at her, pounding at her. And then, he penetrates her with a liquor bottle."
However, a spokesman for Depp vehemently denied the claims, saying in a statement: "These fictitious claims were never made at the onset of Amber's allegations in 2016, and only advantageously surfaced years later once she was sued for defamation after noting in her op-ed that she was a victim of 'sexual violence'.
"Words are key in a defamation case and conveniently, this allegation only came after that. This follows a pattern of her elaborate, erroneous claims which have continued to change and evolve over time for the purpose of Hollywood shock value of which Amber has mastered and used to exploit a serious social movement."
Amber Heard seen outside court as the defamation trial begins. Photo / Getty Images
Depp's sister Christi Dembrowski has also given evidence in the libel trial.
Dembrowski alleged she has witnessed Heard insulting her brother "multiple times", including calling him "an old fat man".
Describing another alleged incident, she told the court: "Johnny told Amber that I had just had a meeting with Dior and they were interested in him.
"Her reaction to that was she was in disbelief and sort of disgust because she said, 'Dior, why would Dior want to do business with you? They are about class and they are about style and you don't have style.'
"It was insulting. Taking away that one moment, that insult is there."
Dembrowski has worked for Depp as his assistant and manager at times, and admitted when he was travelling away with Heard she would often book an extra hotel room because it "wasn't unusual for them to have an argument".
She explained: "I saw a repeat happening in life. When we were kids in arguments and fighting would start to happen, our first thing to do was go and hide and get away from it. I recognised what felt to me a repeat pattern from his childhood. I wanted to make sure there was a place he could do just that."
Dembrowski also claimed their mother used to call her kids insulting nicknames, with Depp known as "one eye", because of an eye condition he suffered from as a child.
The trial is expected to last around six weeks, and witnesses are set to include actors James Franco and Paul Bettany, and Amber's ex-boyfriend, tech mogul Elon Musk.
Where to go for help or more information
• Women's Refuge: Free national crisis line operates 24/7 - 0800 REFUGE or 0800 733 843
If you are reading this information on the Herald website and you're worried that someone using the same computer will find out what you've been looking at, you can follow the steps at the link here to hide your visit.
Each of the websites above also have a section that outlines this process.
